Showdown in Provincetown over management of MacMillan Pier

Thursday

May 2, 2013 at 12:01 AMMay 2, 2013 at 2:14 AM

By the end of a tense joint meeting between the board of selectmen and the Public Pier Corp., at which accusations were hurled and town employees insulted, it was agreed that Provincetown Harbor will continue to be run as-is, for now.

Ann Wood

By the end of a tense joint meeting between the board of selectmen and the Public Pier Corp., at which accusations were hurled and town employees insulted, it was agreed that Provincetown Harbor will continue to be run as-is, for now.

That means keeping Rex McKinsey on board as harbormaster and pier manager. But after next week’s town election, in which selectmen John Santos and Austin Knight are battling to maintain their seats, the board tentatively plans to create a working group. The group, which will include some members of the selectmen, Pier Corp. and perhaps others in town, will decide how to split McKinsey’s job in two and figure out who will hold the other position.

Lee Ash, chair of the Pier Corp, opened the discussion with a prepared statement in which she pointed to a report by Robert Pomeroy that she says was supposed to address the so-called “mooring mess” but came back as an audit of the harbormaster’s office. Pomeroy’s report, while criticizing the lack of mooring rental verification, ignored the controversy that led to the audit — a complaint by Ken Kinkor, a trustee of 16 MacMillan Wharf Reality Trust, who claimed that 17 years ago 35 mooring blocks had been stolen from a town mooring field by Flyer’s Boat Rentals, a private mooring rental business in which Selectman John Santos has an interest.

“There’s been a predetermined, unspoken effort to turn the harbormaster’s office over to the police department,” Ash said.

Lynn responded with a prepared statement of her own, which she read from a computer screen, in which she said she’s received many complaints about the harbormaster’s office. Complaints abound about derelict boats and people angry at “the ineptness of personnel,” including the harbormaster and the assistant harbormaster, Lynn said. She went on to say that there were several problems with marina employees, including one who was not wearing a shirt and another who was wearing a uniform while drinking in a bar. There were employee incidents “needing police involvement,” Lynn added. She further stated that Ash and the Pier Corp wanted her to take charge of hiring down at the pier, and asked to continue the marine patrol officer program. The program, which began last year and is led by Det. Scott Chovanec, has about three police officers on the pier 24-7 during the season.

“The harbormaster’s number- one duty is taking over that mooring field,” Lynn said. “That’s where we’re talking about enforcement.”

Scott Fraser, a Pier Corp. member, shot back at the town manager.

“It would be a mistake” to have a harbormaster who is a police department member, he said. Having McKinsey work as pier manager alongside a harbormaster will cost the town an extra $200,000 to $250,000 a year, he said. Fraser accused Lynn of being “outright disingenuous” when she told the Pier Corp. why she wanted to commission the Pomeroy report.

“Mr. Pomeroy’s report was not balanced and not objective,” Fraser said. “He made the best case for his client, and he knew who his client was.”

Changing the way the harbor is run is a three-step process, Fraser said, that begins with the decision to move the overseeing of the harbormaster from the Pier Corp to the town, figuring out how it should be organized within town government, and deciding who will be assigned the job.

Selectman David McChesney had the opposite reaction to the audit report, which found problems with the harbormaster’s recording keeping and enforcement.

“It’s just shocking,” he said. “I think it’s critical [that we do something now]. What are we going to do, wait another year?”

Knight, chair of the selectmen, said that he had no intention of making any changes that night, and suggested that at the May 13 selectmen’s meeting the board discuss creating a working group. Carlos Verde, a Pier Corp. member, wanted immediate action.

“I’m not happy and I want a change,” he said.

Meanwhile, McKinsey said that a mooring map is in the works.

“To say that we don’t know where any of the moorings are … is inaccurate and misleading,” he told the selectmen, adding that he’s kept records others were going to throw in the trash. “Some day I expect the ceiling of the harbormaster’s office to cave in from all of the records that I’ve got [in the attic].”

McKinsey said he feels like he’s done a good job maintaining a hospitable environment for both professional fishermen and recreational boaters. Though he agreed that his job is huge, he said, “I’m not sure that just having two positions is going to address those issues enough.”